In Passing
Boston
M. Judah Folkman, cancer scientist
M. Judah Folkman, 74, a cancer scientist whose research led to the invention of a family of drugs that fight tumors by depriving them of their blood supply, died Monday at Denver International Airport after an apparent heart attack.
Folkman, a resident of Brookline, Mass., was en route to Vancouver, B.C., for a lecture. At his death, he was director of the vascular biology program at Children’s Hospital Boston. He also was a professor of pediatric surgery and cell biology at Harvard Medical School.
Drugs based on Folkman’s idea for fighting tumors are known as angiogenesis inhibitors, and he invented substances that promote and inhibit angiogenesis, or blood vessel growth.
His work has led other scientists and biotech companies to develop drugs now used to treat advanced cases of kidney, breast, colon and lung cancer. And his underlying idea of targeted biological therapy has expanded beyond blood to focus on other molecules that cancer cells use to thrive.
Los Angeles
Allan Melvin, character actor
Allan Melvin, a popular character actor who played Cpl. Henshaw on the 1950s sit-com “The Phil Silvers Show” and later played Archie Bunker’s neighbor and friend Barney on “All in the Family,” has died. He was 84.
Melvin, who was in the original Broadway cast of “Stalag 17” in the early 1950s, died of cancer Thursday at his suburban home, said his wife of 64 years, Amalia.
During his five-decade career, Melvin made guest appearances on numerous TV shows, including playing different roles on at least eight episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” and playing Dick Van Dyke’s old Army buddy on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
He also played Sgt. Charlie Hacker on “Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C.”; butcher Sam Franklin – Alice the housekeeper’s boyfriend – on “The Brady Bunch”; and continued playing Barney when the hit “All in the Family” became “Archie Bunker’s Place.”
Los Angeles
Richard Knerr, Wham-O founder
Richard Knerr, co-founder of Wham-O Inc., which unleashed the granddaddy of American fads, the Hula Hoop, on the world a half-century ago along with another enduring leisure icon, the Frisbee, has died. He was 82.
Knerr died Monday at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., after suffering a stroke earlier in the day at his Arcadia home.
With his boyhood best friend, Arthur “Spud” Melin, Knerr started the company in 1948 in Pasadena. They named the enterprise “Wham-O” for the sound their first product, a slingshot, made when it hit its target.
A treasure chest of toys followed that often bore playful names: Superball, so bouncy it seemed to defy gravity; Slip ‘N Slide and its giggle-inducing cousin the Water Wiggle; and Silly String, which was much harder to get out of the hair than advertised.